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B2B Marketing Trends 2018

The trends for 2018 draw a clear picture: companies won’t be able to avoid the topic of online sales anymore.

During the next years a growth to as much as 50 percent is expected in this area. This is due to the fact that new online channels have to be used in the course of digitization in order to remain competitive in the future.

In this professional article you will come to know the B2B-Marketing-Trends for 2018. We want to show you ways so that your industrial products will be found worldwide in the future.

Online sales grows

More and more business customers are making their purchases online (53 %) and the numbers are still growing. E-Commerce and online marketplaces are therefore gaining more and more importance.

Contrary to this development some B2B-companies are lagging behind the trend of digitization and do not possess an online-shop. Even the company’s website is often used only for image maintenance and does not provide enough information.

B2B-platforms are getting more relevant

Online trading focuses increasingly on large platforms: around 46 percent of buying agents are moving to selling platforms. Amazon Business and Alibaba are ready and will quickly conquer the B2B-market.

Big B2B-Portals are generally running intensive search engine optimization (SEO) as well as paid search engine advertising (SEA) and are therefore oftentimes showing up among the first hits in search engines like Google. Buying agents of industrial products are searching specifically on B2B-portals for business partners as they can also achieve results for very specific and complex search queries and thus buyers can find the products that are relevant to them. For companies, large trading platforms hold the advantage that they offer a significantly higher range than their own online shop or their own website.

For good visibility on the internet, it is important to include B2B portal marketing in the online marketing mix in order to remain competitive in (online-)commerce.

Influencer marketing is gaining importance

Why is influencer marketing relevant in B2B?

Because referrals by others strengthen trust in a brand more than corporate advertising. Therefore, it is important to collaborate with influential testimonials and generate enthusiasm for the brand. Whoever achieves this strengthens confidence in their B2B brand and promotes loyalty.

The goal of content marketing is to provide buying agents with informed expertise, to engage with them and to help them solve their potential problems.

The purchasing process for B2B companies is characterized by a long phase of information gathering; a process in which several actors are involved.

What do B2B companies need to consider? They have to pick up and satisfy the information needs of the buyers through various channels in order to reach the shortlist of possible suppliers. The trend is on the Internet: 94% of buyers get information online. The more presence companies have on the web and the more relevant content they provide to buyers, the greater the chances for buyer inquiries.

Focus on data integration

As digitization progresses, more and more data and information are accumulating. To remain competitive, companies must therefore change their thinking in silos and merge the information from the different departments.

Personalization for target group-oriented addressing

The networking of sales and B2B online marketing makes it possible to understand customers and their needs in the best possible way, to identify target markets and to steer target-group-oriented campaigns with high conversion.

Account-based marketing is the future

63% of B2B marketers see this as an important part of their marketing strategy. Up to 80% even want to focus on this in 2018.
With effective account-based marketing, the right content is addressed to the right target group at the right time. This requires close cooperation between sales and marketing as well as purchasing, the use of appropriate software and processes, and not least the measurement and evaluation for long-term success.